Danica Patrick: '50-50' that she'll run Indy 500 next year

As she prepares to return to Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the first time as a NASCAR driver, Danica Patrick says the odds are even that she'll make a one-race return to her IndyCar roots in 2013.

In a wide-ranging interview with the Indianapolis Star's Curt Cavin, Patrick said the wheels are still churning to get her into next year's Indy 500.

"Fair chance," she said. "I'll say 50-50. We're working on it."

Many logistics would have to be worked out for the famed race, which produced some of Patrick's greatest successes in a seven-year IndyCar career before she moved full time to NASCAR this year. In her first Indy start in 2005, she became the first woman to lead the Indy 500 and assembled six top-10 finishes in seven 500 starts.

Because the race, run annually on the Sunday before Memorial Day, ends a few hours before the start of NASCAR's 600-mile Sprint Cup race at Charlotte Motor Speedway, she would have to pull the rare double attempted by three drivers, and only Tony Stewart (her Cup team owner) has completed all 1,100 miles in the same day, in 2001. The last to try it was Robby Gordon in 2003.

In addition to the time crunch of flying from Indiana to North Carolina in a few hours, at issue for a double would be finding a reputable IndyCar ride. Also, qualifying and Bump Day for the 500 coincide with NASCAR's All-Star race weekend at Charlotte.

Patrick will be on the track at IMS on Thursday for Nationwide Series practice in advance of Saturday's race, which will mark the first at The Brickyard for NASCAR's second-level series. Patrick is ninth in the Nationwide standings, with one top-10 finish in 18 starts, and plans to transition full time to Cup next year in Stewart-Haas Racing's No. 10 Chevrolet.

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About Reid and Mike

Reid Cherner has been with USA TODAY since 1982 and written Game On! since March 2008.

He has covered everything from high schools to horse racing to the college and the pros. The only thing he likes more than his own voice is the sound of readers telling him when he's right and wrong.

Michael Hiestand has covered sports media and marketing for USA TODAY, tackling the sports biz ranging from what's behind mega-events such as the Olympics and Super Bowl to the sometimes-hidden numbers behind the sports world's bottom line.